In an announcement made Wednesday in Hillsborough County, Governor Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo called for an end to Florida’s vaccine mandates, including for children attending schools.
“Who am I, as a government or anyone else — who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?” Ladapo said.
For decades, the state required immunizations for children entering day care facilities and schools K-12, unless a religious or medical exception was filed. The mandates covered vaccinations against a number of preventable diseases like polio, rubella, measles, chicken pox and tetanus.
Florida could be the first to eliminate vaccine mandates
While no specific timeline was given, Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health would be working with DeSantis and the state Legislature to phase out the practice, making Florida the first state to eliminate so many vaccine mandates.
The decision has been met with opposition from public health experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. A statement by President Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP stressed the health risks that come with the close contact environment of classrooms.
“When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it’s harder for diseases to spread, and easier for everyone to keep the fun and learning going. When children are sick and miss school, parents also miss work, which not only impacts those families, but also the local economy,” the statement reads. “We are concerned that today’s announcement by Gov. DeSantis will put children in Florida public schools at higher risk for getting sick, and have ripple effects across their community.”